3 bar menu

High School Hack and Slash Chapter 163 Part 1

Entrance Trials

Well then, the Christmas party at Asagi-sou came to an end with great success.

Or rather, it continued until the next morning.

There were some dorm residents who returned to their rooms halfway through the party, but most of them either stayed until the end and became dead drunk, or were smashed and fell asleep there.

Basically, our dorm residents love to have a party.

The non-residential members who attended the party were also quite into it.

Academy life is one of few entertainments, so they must have set their minds to enjoy merrymaking times to the best of their abilities.

The mini-events held during the party were also quite lively.

The Senpais prepared events such as a bingo tournament, and Doggy-san, who tried to dive into the emerging giant cake, was caught and hung from the ceiling.

There was a bit of dispute, but I think the gift exchange event was also a success.

Well, I can’t help but say that suddenly taking out a sacred treasure-class gift was an act of those who couldn’t read the air.

Though, Saki was delighted by it, and Karin-senpai, who gave the gift, also seemed satisfied.

Tatsuya and his group were also fitting in nicely.

They, too, are comrades-in-arms who have fought together in raid quests along with the Adept Orders (us) and Black Honey members.

The female members, who seemed nervous at first, became dead drunk and tangled Tatsuya-kun in the latter half.

The relationship seems to be a little complicated, but Tatsuya is also someone with a harem constitution in his own right.

Shinnosuke-kun, who was in danger in many ways, was lying in the corner of the room, dried up for some reason.

The smile floating on his gaunt face was eerie, but it didn’t really matter.

Subaru-kun and the others, who joined the party later, were also fitting in little by little as they got introduced to everyone.

The card girls seemed to be restraining themselves as they tried not to stand out, but guys even stranger than them stride around freely in our dormitory, so I don’t think anyone would mind.

Well, I bet they’ll get used to it soon enough.

They don’t seem to be bad kids, or rather, they seem harmless.

The problem is that their remarks are beyond comprehension, or should I say filled with wild fantasies.

Even if they told me that the world is going to be destroyed, how should I put it, it’s troubling.

For argument’s sake, even if the world does face its demise, what could we, mere commoners, do?

As such, I’ve chosen to pretend that I’ve heard nothing of it and ignore it.

◇ ◇ ◇

―― Labyrinth of Perforation Realm 『YGGDRASILL』, Attached Branch Realm 『Yomotsu Hirasaka』 ――

―― The 『Twentieth』 Stratum, 『Uncharted』 Domain ――

 

「… I guess so. To be frank, I don’t even get what it means.」

Mai, leaning her elbows on the table, picks up a cookie.

The luminescence of the multicolored crystals around us gives off a fantasy-like air.

The reason why we can have a leisurely tea party inside the dungeon is because this place is the dungeon 20th stratum, the 『New World (Genesis World)』.

On this stratum, there are nothing but challenges for passing through the realm gate.

It’s a special stratum where not even 『Natural Enemy (Aggressor)』 that springs up over time appears.

Unless each one of us defeats the 『Guardian of the Realm Gate』 by our own strength alone, we won’t be able to go beyond this point.

We, the members of the Adept Orders club, have all overcome this trial.

In other words, if someone wants to become one of us, at the very least they must be able to pass through this place.

It’s something akin to an entrance exam for Subaru-kun.

「He’s got a lot more guts than he looks, doesn’t he? I mean, he gives it one try after another without whining.」

「I guess so. He’s also coming to last longer and longer.」

At the words of Seiichi, who has a cup of coffee in his hand, Mai nods her head and looks back at the door.

At first, he was spat out out of the blue, but by now he no longer suffers instant death.

Fighting against a boss whose abilities are copied from your own is tantamount to a battle of attrition.

There’s no risk of returning from death either, so to speak, similar to a battle in virtual reality.

Be it by pure luck or by chance, all you have to do is beat it once.

As long as your heart is not broken by the realistic fake death and pain, you can start over as many times as you want.

I think it’s a trial that favors the challenger and offers definite completion, but surprisingly, students who are unable to break it through seem to be a lot in number.

「I think it would be easier if you just protect the vital points so that you don’t suffer instant death, and then take it down with aiuchi (striking one another at the same time).」

「You’ve been corrupted too, Seiichi. Students who find the pain unbearable and think they’d better off ridding themselves of it through death are in the majority, duh.」

Seiichi’s capture strategy is faced with an instant retort from Mai.

Incidentally, I also think aiming for aiuchi is a good idea.

「I guess it’s the downside of the Rashomon system.」

If you were to return from death in the dungeon, your memory will be reset.

Both your memories and body will rewind, and everything that happened in the dungeon will be treated as never happened.

No matter how many times you have died, the memories of you being brutally killed aren’t left behind.

If the memories of being crushed or torn to pieces were to be left behind, though, it would certainly cause PTSD and trauma, so I guess it has both a good and bad side, huh.

But there’s no mistaking that the general students are not accustomed to death and pain.

The only exception would be other world (raid) quests.

That one uses a special gate at Rashomon, so even if you return from death inside, the memories will be retained.

That’s why there are a lot of students who dislike raid quests.

「Well, let’s get back to the topic, shall we?」

「So you say, but you see… For things like the world coming to an end, what could be done about it, like for real? About that, how’s it actually like, Shizuka?」

Shizuka, who hasn’t participated in the conversation since a while ago, seems to be drowning in thoughts, not even touching her cup.

「Err, yes… I was a little impatient too, I guess. I cannot explain it because it was a vague vision, but I saw a very catastrophic scene. The school was in ruins and there was no one there… It was so sad, and I thought: Ah, so we made a mistake.」

I see, I don’t get what it is she’s trying to say.

「Maybe, the 『Dream Mirror (Oracle)』… My precognitive dream skill was triggered, or so I thought.」

「Err. In short, does that means you fell into panic after seeing a scary dream, or rather, a daydream(?)?」

Faced with Mai’s blunt point, Shizuka, scratching her cheeks, looks away.

Seiichi, arms crossed, looks up and lets out a small groan.

「Miko class’s dream mirror skill, huh… It’s a pretty famous skill, isn’t it? In the sense of how useless it is, I mean. You can’t activate it arbitrarily yourself, and you can’t choose the scene you want to see either. But it serves as a highly accurate prediction of the future, or so they say.」

Even though skills, monsters, and all sorts of unreasonable stuff have become a reality, I still find the idea of predicting the future to be a bit fishy.

I wonder if it’s just me who ends up thinking so.

「But, of all things, it’s the end of the world, huh. The scale is so big that I’m not sure how to react to it.」

「I know, right? And then, a class called 『Prophet』, was it? That’s the reason why you let them join the club, isn’t it?」

「That is not the case, but… It is just that, it would probably be better for us, to have them as comrades, or I thought ….」

Shizuka, looking down at the table, plays with her cup, seemingly unsure.

If Shizuka feels that way, then so be it.

There’s a need to ascertain whether or not they want to stay at our places, but so far there are no members who show rejection toward them.

「Observation required, so to speak, right? I do not mind either way, I guess.」

「I guess. I don’t have any reason to oppose it either.」

And then, there’s no reason to accept it either, something along those lines, huh.

Talk about vague.

Looks like for the time being, we have no choice but to go with a probationary period where they provisionally join the club, and then lets things go with the flow afterwards.